Do you have trouble remembering the difference between Deathbringer the Adorable and Fluffy the Terrible?
Do you have trouble recognizing when you've written a Zero-Context Example?
Not sure if you really have a Badass Bookworm or just a guy who likes to read?
Well, this is the thread for you. We're here to help you will all the finer points of example writing. If you have any questions, we can answer them. Don't be afraid. We don't bite. We all just want to make the wiki a better place for everyone.
Useful Tips:
- Make sure that the example makes sense to both people who don't know the work AND don't know the trope.
- Wrong: The Mentor: Kevin is this to Bob in the first episode.
- Right: The Mentor: Kevin takes Bob under his wing in the first episode and teaches him the ropes of being a were-chinchilla.
- Never just put the trope title and leave it at that.
- Wrong: Badass Adorable
- Right: Badass Adorable: Xavier, the group's cute little mascot, defeats three raging elephants with both hands tied behind his back using only an uncooked spaghetti noodle.
- When is normally far less important than How.
- A character name is not an explanation.
- Wrong: Full Moon Silhouette: Diana
- Right: Full Moon Silhouette: At the end of her transformation sequence into Moon Princess Misty, Diana is shown flying across the full moon riding a rutabaga.
Other Resources:
For best results, please include why you think an example is iffy in your first post.
Also, many oft-misused tropes/topics have their own threads, such as Surprisingly Realistic Outcome (here
) and Fan-Preferred Couple (here). Tropers are better able to give feedback on examples you bring up to specific threads.
For cleaning up examples of Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard, you must use their dedicated threads: Complete Monster Cleanup, Magnificent Bastard Cleanup.
Edited by Synchronicity on Sep 18th 2023 at 11:42:55 AM
Do the titular kings from Pair of Kings count as Hidden Backup Prince? Brady and Boomer grew up as American citizens raised by their mother's relatives unaware their deceased father was the King of a distant island until it was time for them to return and become Kings. Later, King Boz of Mindu, who became King of Mindu because the previous King adopted him, was revealed to be Brady and Boomer's long-lost brother.
Someone just added an example to The Three Faces of Eve.
- This trope was discussed in Alison Bechdel's 2nd graphic memoir "Are You My Mother?" where she talks about her reaction to Maria as a child.
That sounds like too much of a stretch for the wife and seductress.
Lost in Space
I'm pretty sure the trope requires three characters, not one character in different phases of life.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Zzzzzzzzzz
Nope. Not an example. For one, as Fighteer says, it's an ensemble of characters, not different relationship dynamics between the same character and various others. For two, it requires the innocent child; the steady, wise wife; and the sexual, often sexually predatory seductress. "Wife to the Captain" (she was not his lover — the relationship between them isn't particularly sexual) is not Seductress, and "Mother" is not one of the three.
edited 10th Apr '14 10:55:00 AM by Madrugada
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
In Hercules episode "Hercules and the Parents Weekend", a monster captured some of the parents. Adonis' Dad said he was probably taking "swift and decisive" action. Cut to the next scene showing Adonis decided to have himself crowned the next King of Thrace. What kind of trope this cut is an example of?
A character expected to do one thing and then shown doing nothing of the sort is the realm of the Description Cut
edited 13th Apr '14 2:43:24 PM by TrollBrutal
Zzzzzzzzzz
I cut this example from Break-Up Bonfire; it doesn't seem to fit any of the criteria beyond "someone burns someone else's stuff". It's not "cleansing", it's not "leaving the past behind" it's not following a break-up (at least, the way it's written doesn't sound like it is). It's just Earl being a dick. Was I in error?
- Non-romantic example from My Name Is Earl: Earl has agreed to help out with a program that helps prisoners reconcile with their victims, and gets John, a young man with an artistic side who accidentally burned down his parents' house when his meth lab caught fire. Nothing they try is working, and John tells Earl that he is the way he is because he never got to go to prom. So Earl uses the last of his lottery winnings to throw a prom for the prison...and after all the trouble Earl went through for him, the guy still isn't making an effort to reconnect with his parents. So Earl goes into John's cell one evening and sets fire to all of his artwork.
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
I think you're right to have removed it from Break-Up Bonfire, but I think the fire is "cleansing". The way I read it, burning John's art probably makes him understand how his parents felt, and finally able to reconnect with them. But that's a different fire purifies trope, not "ending the relationship".
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Chiyo and Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh have me stumped. On the one hand, they pretty much have all the hallmarks of being an example of Huge Guy, Tiny Girl / Tiny Guy, Huge Girl, character dynamics and all. On the other hand, they're both of the same sex (female), when both of the tropes require the two to be of opposite sexes. And on the other other hand, they can't be a genderflip of Big Guy, Little Guy, because... well, they only have the height difference element of that trope (and it's much more than just a huge guy with a tiny guy).
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
Are the characters in a romantic relationship?
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
No, but one could argue for the presence of some subtle Ship Tease between them. The Huge Schoolgirl is pretty dedicated to protecting the little girl from both physical harm, being made fun of for her un-athleticness, and snowballs, at any rate... and secretly gushes over said girl's sheer cuteness, while lamenting that she isn't as cute (she hates being tall and intimidating, you see).
edited 15th Apr '14 2:41:31 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
So the relationship is Those Two Guys?
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.Beyond my questions in the posts 581 and 595, i recently noted the following examples in Western Animation:
- Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender is almost identical to Sasuke from Naruto. Both came from a fire-themed country, being stoic and unfavorite, mastering fire and electric techniques. Their actions are so complicated that their alignments are complicated, and having marks on them. Also, his sister Azula is a villainous Expy of Kimiko Tohomiko (Coincidentally, both are voiced by Grey DeLisle.) and his on-off girlfriend Mai is an expy of a Naruto character as well; she is an expy of Sasuke Uchiha's on-off girlfriend Sakura Haruno. The four main members of Team Avatar are expies of notable figures:
- Aang is an Expy of Luke Skywalker, as they both are young heroes who are the ones and that they are fight the bad guys and a bit of Goku, alongside with Avatar Roku being an expy of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- Katara is an Expy of both Princess Leia and Starfire
- Sokka is an Expy of Ron Stoppable
- Toph is an Expy of Terra (though is more heroic than the actual character)
The examples in question are correct examples?
Short answer: no. Expy is very misused, and frankly I'm not sure what the correct definition is anymore, but it's not "these characters are broadly similar".
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
No, because Those Two Guys requires as its core trait that the duo to have little plot significance. Chiyo and Sakaki are part of the Ensemble Cast that the story revolves around.
edited 16th Apr '14 2:53:07 AM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
Siblings? Best friends? Basically, I'm thinking they can apply for the trope (with the "cute" one as "the girl") as long as the relationship is clearly defined within the example, and the trope is Played With. There's enough back-and-forth I'm convinced the two interact regularly. I'm just looking for more than "friends with friends in common". They have to hang out and bicker with each other.
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
I've already pointed out that they practically qualify for Huge Guy, Tiny Girl / Tiny Guy, Huge Girl, their one failing being the opposite-sex criteria.
Granted, one could argue that Tropes Are Flexible and Gender-Inverted Trope doesn't have to apply simultaneously to both members of a Duo Trope, but then that would raise the question of which of the two otherwise identical tropes to pick... or should we take both tropes instead?
edited 16th Apr '14 12:04:25 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.{{615}}: In this case, you guess that it is a good idea remove the example?(I am questioning this because the examples were already removed and put again at least one time, following the history, and the troper that removed this originally created a discussion in the discussion page about this.)
Zzzzzzzzzz
Avatar and Expy: It's a valid removal. If the same editor puts it back again, please Holler or report them in Ask The Tropers. A few similarities or character traits in common does not make a Expy. The definition of Expy is "a character from one series who is unambiguously and deliberately based on a character in another, older series. "
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.Okay, thanks.
Hi everyone. I'm looking at the character page for House Bolton from Game of Thrones.
I was wondering whether or not The Boy/Ramsay Snow (spoilered just in case any newbies are hopping onboard :D) counted as a Knight of Cerebus.
On the one hand:
- The show's never been that lighthearted. Monsters like Gregor Clegane and Tywin have upped the dark factor significantly.
- There's a bit of Black Comedy as is GOT tradition.
On the other hand, The Boy is easily one of the vilest villains in the show, making Joffrey look pathetic in spite of his being an utter monster, making Theon suddenly sympathetic again, and and when he turns up there is nothing funny beyond the odd Black Comedy comment, itself a rarity and possibly going into Dude, Not Funny! territory.
Any input'd be appreciated, thanks for your help.
Trans rights are human rights. If you don't think that, please leave.
Game of Thrones from what I know was never a comedy or even somewhat comedic, so I am thinking "nope".
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
From Characters.Happiness Charge Pretty Cure, Cure Honey's entry:
- Four-Leaf Clover: Her main symbol.
Now it can be expanded to:
- Four-Leaf Clover: Her transformation has four-leaf clovers in the background and her main finisher is a giant energy cloverleaf.
But even so, is this really an example of the trope?
Question for the Pink Floyd fans: Are any of these Creepy Crows or Clever Crows, and what would be the best way to rewrite this to match a proper trope?
- Ravens and Crows:
- In the middle of Echoes and later in Poles Apart, the latter also crosses over into a Circus of Fear.
- The bird sounds in Echoes are actually an electric guitar plugged into a wah pedal the wrong way.
- A key piece of imagery in "Cymbaline"
If it's not specific to villains the description could use some clarifying to show that. It should at least mention how antagonists and foils are related, and talk about whether good leaders who act stupid can apply or not.
edited 6th Apr '14 11:30:47 AM by xanderiskander